Latin America Data Response Brazil & Chile Consumer Prices (Jun.) The rise in inflation in Brazil to 8.9% y/y last month probably seals the deal for another 50bp hike in the benchmark Selic interest rate at this month’s COPOM meeting. Elsewhere, inflation in Chile... 8th July 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Data Response Chile Retail Sales, Ind. Prod. & Copper Prod. (May) Activity data from Chile released today were a mixed bag – while retail spendingremained buoyant, industrial output fell sharply. All told, the recent run of softerdata means that our GDP Tracker is... 30th June 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update A closer look at Chile’s current account improvement Chile is the only country in Latin America that has managed to reduce its current account deficit since the “Taper Tantrum” of 2013, which makes the economy less exposed to tightening external... 16th June 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Policymakers in Chile and Peru likely to hold fire until 2016 Interest rates in Chile and Peru were left unchanged last night and with both economies in the early stages of recovery, policymakers are likely to delay rate hikes until next year, even if the Fed... 12th June 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update What next for crisis-stricken Venezuela? With Venezuela’s economic crisis intensifying, attention is starting to focus on how the country might get out of this mess. Two options have been suggested in recent weeks – one is the establishment... 9th June 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Data Response Chile Consumer Prices (May) The further decline in inflation in Chile last month means that the annual rate is now right on the upper bound of the target range, having spent over a year above the 4% threshold. The continued fall... 8th June 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Data Response Chile IMACEC (Apr.) The smaller-than-expected increase in Chile’s IMACEC activity indicator in April was almost entirely due to severe floods in the north of the country. Sharp falls in mining and construction, caused by... 5th June 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Markets in Brazil and Colombia suffer fresh falls Following a brief recovery last month, Brazilian and Colombian financial markets have sold off in recent weeks, with both equities and currencies coming under pressure. But elsewhere in Latin America... 27th May 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Data Response Chile GDP & Current Account (Q1) First quarter GDP and balance of payments data from Chile add to evidence that the economy is on the mend. Not only did quarterly GDP growth accelerate but the current account also registered a... 18th May 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Chile and Peru happy to play a waiting game The fact that the timetable for rate “lift-off” in the US seems to have been pushed back in recent weeks has relieved pressure on policymakers in both Chile and Peru to follow suit and tighten policy... 15th May 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Economic Outlook Recovery stalls as Brazil suffers renewed downturn The recovery that appeared to be underway in Latin America at the end of last year has faded in recent months, with several of the region’s economies experiencing renewed downturns. The latest... 13th May 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Data Response Brazil & Chile Consumer Prices (Apr.) Brazil inflation edged up again last month but, with the big increases in regulated prices now over, it is probably close to peaking. Meanwhile in Chile, inflation continues to grind lower and should... 8th May 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Brazil heads deeper into the fiscal mire It is, in truth, too soon to expect any improvement in Brazil’s public finances as a result of the belt-tightening measures introduced over the past few months, but the fact that the fiscal position... 7th May 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Data Response Chile IMACEC (Mar.) The month-on-month fall in Chile’s IMACEC activity indicator in March was due largely to severe floods in the north of the country, which disrupted activity and led to the temporary closure of many... 5th May 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Data Response Chile Retail Sales, Ind. Prod. & Copper Prod. (Mar.) The raft of weak activity data for Chile, while disappointing, are unlikely to have prevented a robust expansion of GDP in Q1. We suspect that much of last month’s weakness can be explained by the... 29th April 2015 · 1 min read
Latin America Economics Update Chile: policy tightening not imminent Interest rates in Chile were left unchanged at 3.00% last night and despite the central bank adopting a relatively more hawkish tone than a couple of months ago in its statement accompanying the... 17th April 2015 · 1 min read
